Archive for May, 2011

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Losing Weight the Frugal Way

May 31st, 2011

To lose weight the frugal way is to simple eat less and consume food that are cheaper but still hold nutritional value.

I’m tired of yo-yo diets, and intense workouts that I eventually get tired of and quit.  I knew this at the beginning of the year, but I haven’t found an acceptable substitute until now.

So what is my new magic bullet for losing weight?  Adopting a more frugal lifestyle.  I’m going to set a money limit for how much I can spend a day for food, and stick to that number!

For a month, I’m going to use 2 dollars for breakfast, 3 dollars for lunch, and 5 dollars for dinner, so I’m not going to spend more than $10 a day.  The idea is to come in below $10, not to meet that number everyday!  In fact, I’m really hoping that I can get away with only $6.00 a day.

I plan in creating a journal (as I have in the past), but this time instead of just recording what I ate, I’m going to record the cost of what I ate and do a tally at the end of the day (or the next day) to determine if I met my less than $10 goal or not.

You might be wondering why just a month?

There have been studies that concluded that if you do a task/job or whatever for 21 days in a row, it become habit-forming.  So after those 21 days, the task become part of your routine.

What will I do with the money saved from this new weight loss approach?

I’m going to channel the extra  money into my “Dividend Stocks, Free Lunch Experiment #10“.  The experiment has been repurposed to really provide a meal that I will cook for my family once a week on Thursdays.  Previously, I was saving $40 a week to fund the experiment, but now I think I’ll jump the number up to $50 or $60 a week (depending on how well I do with my calculations above).

What is different this time?

Previously, I had no really big motivator do lose weight, but now that I have a more concrete purpose to back the goal up, it become more rewarding!  It’s also nice to start losing weight at the beginning of the month instead of on an off day.  While not a huge reason, it does make the journal seem more legit.  Another nice aspect is this process is now a win-win.  I win because I will be losing weight and I win again because I will be saving money.

Bests,

MR

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Posted in Lemons to Lemonade

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My Toro Lawn Mower Review and Why I Recommend It

May 30th, 2011

Late last year, my old lawn mower (Mean Green) finally broke beyond repair, and so I had to kick it to the curb.

Before I bought my new red toro lawn mower, I borrowed mowers in the past including a Honda push mower (very heavy), a John Deere self propelled (stiff and also heavy), and a MTD (lighter but not much better).

Toro Lawn Mower

Toro Lawn Mower

Out of the mowers that I tried, I have to say that my red Toro Recycler lawn mower is my favorite.
Initially I hated to spend $375 dollars on the new toro lawn mower that I bought, but I’ve changed my mind and below are the reasons why I’ve had a change of heart.

  • Personal Pace Self Propel, this is awesome!  Initially I thought big deal, but after using it for a few times, I now understand the value of a variable paced self-propelled lawn mower.  When I use the constant speed John Deere, it was good but I was limited to a speed that I couldn’t control, so I was limited as to how fast I could mow.  With my Toro Recycler, I was only limited by how fast I chose to mow.  When my son was mowing, I even saw him run with it.  Of course I went out and yelled at him (Grrr).  This feature shouldn’t be overlooked, it’s awesome!
  • Maintenance is easier!  I dreaded changing the oil after using it for 5 hours (need to do if the mower is new) of use and thought it would be a pain.  But since it comes out at the top instead of the bottom (Mean Green was a pain this way), it was quick and easy.  I was pleasantly surprised!
  • An even better workout!  Since Mean Green was a push mower, I assumed the I would be getting a better workout with him, but this is not the case!  Since I can go mow much more quickly, I actually maintain a more brisk pace, so I think it’s almost borderline aerobic!
  • A tank that will last the entire mowing cycle for my yard.  The gas in “Mean Green” sometimes didn’t last for the entire yard, and I would have to refuel it every now and then, but this is not the case with my new toro mower!
  • Special mowing blades enable me to mow without having the mower set to mulch.  If I didn’t have my old lawn mower in mulch mode, I the grass would be to thick and I would have to rake it up.  With my new toro mower, even when the mower isn’t in mulch mode I don’t have to rake because it cuts the grass into smaller pieces.  This was a pleasant surprise, and great for spring when the grass is growing like crazy.
  • The mower is so easy to work with, that my son (10 years old) can mow the lawn occasionally (yes, for money).  With the old mower he couldn’t start it, but with the Toro ”Easy Start” system, even my son can start the Toro lawn mower!  Plus with the “Personal Pace Self Propel” system, my son doesn’t have to strain to mow the grass!
  • It has a special washing system where you attach a hose to it and turn on the water and run it for 15 minutes to have the mower clean itself, but I don’t use this feature because I don’t want to waste the gas or water.  Still it’s an intriguing idea.

I’ve decided to call my mower “Red” as in the movie (and book) “The Shawshank Redemption“.  Even though I’m not getting paid to write this article, I thought I would share my experiences with the product.

I hope you found this personal review helpful,

MR

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Posted in Review

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MR Cache: Soccer Victory, Lessons Learned From 7 Year Old Girls

May 29th, 2011

Weekly Thoughts:

My 7-year-old girls soccer team stomped the other team this week.  The other team’s coach actually coaches our city high school girl’s soccer team, so I thought we were going to be slaughtered, but I was wrong.

Now granted both my daughter and her best friend could be considered the best players in their league, it was more than that!  The entire team worked like a well oiled machine.  Only one of the girls on our team didn’t make a goal today, and even she almost did.  Instead she choose to pass it to my daughter who ended up making the goal.  Of course, when I switched a new group of girls in I had a nice talk with that girl telling her that when she has a shot that close to the goal, to go ahead and take it.  She smiled and said okay, very cute!

So after such a great win (24 to 11) you might think that I thought I was a soccer coaching guru, but it wasn’t me…  Each of the girls on the team have bonded (at least the ones that come to practice), so much so that they would rather go to the games instead of going on vacation.  They want their team to win, and win well.  The all have great focus and heart!  I’ve never seen such a strong team, and it’s very touching.

I would like to say that today I’ve fallen in love with the team, thinking of each girl as kind of my own, but that would be a lie.  You see, it’s a cumulative thing starting with the team’s game and following practices…  I now understand the personal pride that each parent on the team feels for their kid.

After seeing other teams via my son and daughter, I know that what I have with this team is special, and I’m going to make the most of it.  Each of the girls look up to me in some way, and I won’t let any of them down.

While I think I got lucky with this team, I now know why everybody always says that you should try to coach at least once just for the experience.

Great Reads from Other Financial Bloggers:

  • Financial Samurai: No Point Making Money If You Don’t Spend Your Money – I believe I was too frugal while in college.  Sam (who is able to save 70% of his income) has come to the same conclusion that I did!  For me it all about maintaining an optimal financial balance!
  • The Ultimate Juggle: Happy Hour Isn’t For Drinks- Bloggette reminds us that during Happy Hour, the food in addition to the alcohol is half price too!  She goes on to mention that kids can often eat for free at certain restaurants on certain days too!
  • Budgeting in the Fun Stuff: Top Tips for Beginner Coupon Clippers – My family needs to learn who to start doing this!  We are leaving money on the table and that’s not acceptable!  This article is a great way to start!
  • First Gen American: Frugal Knives: Babci Loves Shivs - Okay, I admit it, Sandy’s Babci is starting to grow on me!  This is yet another Babci story I enjoyed; it’s about how Babci can tell good steel from cheap steel and how she frugally makes her knifes.  Another awesome story!
  • Little House in the Valley: The Ever Elusive “Joneses”- Info about my first and maybe favorite financial book!  The book that got me to believe that just maybe it is possible to still get ahead in America, and even though I wasn’t born rich that doesn’t mean someday that I can’t be rich.  Great intro to the terms PAW and UAW too!
  • Everyday Tips and Thoughts: Diversify Your Retirement Savings Now!- Great advice in this article!  Kris is right, I don’t want to bank my retirement on one company (no Enron for me).
  • Wealth Informatics: Free life insurance for low income families – This is a really nice program, the coverage isn’t high but it’s something which is better than nothing!
  • Out of Your Rut: Five Reasons the 30 Year Mortgage Beats the 15 – I would like to say no this isn’t true, but it’s the route I took.  Even though I paid my mortgage off in 10 years, “Cash Flow” was still crucial when I started out so I went with a 30 year mortgage initially.

 Carnivals I’m In:

Moneyreasons.com a Second Look at the Week

 

Conclusion

So what did I learn for the girls?

  1. If each member views that team winning as the most important thing, everybody tries their best.
  2. Being a team is more than about just winning (although it’s very important), it about treating each other with respect and courtesy.
  3. It’s little things taken for granted that make a difference in a teams ability to win.   If players learn and listen quickly, they can become a great force for change.
  4. Focus and determination are as important ingredients for force as is speed and agility.
  5. Coaching (and having a team win) can be a ton of fun.

-MR

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Posted in Weekly Review

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Is the Draining Process of Social Security to Speed Up?

May 28th, 2011

I was reading an article at the Financial Samurai’s site called “An Unemployment Epidemic For College Graduates“ and as I felt bad for recent graduates, I stated to wonder what about Social Security and the effects on it?

My question is “how is the lack of jobs that the graduates of today aren’t getting hired for, going to affect Social Security“?  Social Security is collected from the workers of today to pay for the labor of the workers that are now retired.  As Sam mentions in his article between 50 to 80% of college graduates aren’t getting hired.  The jobs that college graduates get hired for pay much more money than the run of the mill jobs.  How is that loss going to be made up?

Since technology is enabling the jobs of today to be eliminated and outsourced, what impact will that have on Social Security?  I think we will find that it will drain what little reserves that are in existence to practically nothing soon that what was predicted.

The problem with Social Security is that it’s too complex and needs to be simplified and protected by laws.  Instead of continually beating up our the financial institutions, focus should be redirected in making sure that Social Security is solid and whole again.  This is the kind of “Change” that I really was hoping for, not more debt.

Instead of having the Social Security monies at the disposal of government whims of the moment, there should be protective laws put around the entire social mechanism.  It should be protected by law since the government doesn’t seem to care about the future elderly. 

I believe that the loss of jobs (especially high paying tech and call center jobs) to offshore companies will speed up the hit to the monies that should be used for Social Security at an even quicker rate.  I want business to be competitive, but this seems trend seems like a constant downward spiral for the middle class lifestyles.

In many ways I think it’s very sad that we are letting money win over humans.  Business needs to be competitive, but government should see what is happening and start focusing on this trend.  At a very minimum, the government should do some analysis of what is happening and how it could affect middle class well-being.  After all, they represent the majority, and currently the middle class is the majority.  I say currently because if the something isn’t done, some day the majority will be not be the middle class, instead we will all be poor with just a few super rich individuals.  Perhaps we’ll go to a form of modern Feudalism?

So Social Security doesn’t really seem that secure anymore does it…

Thanks for reading along with me as I think out loud.

MR

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Posted in Problems

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Girl Scout Bridging Ceremony and Time

May 27th, 2011
Girl Scouts

Girl Scouts

We all went to my daughter’s “Girl Scout Bridging Ceremony” last night, but of all the people there, there were only 4 males (including my son and I).

We got there are 6:00pm but the actual Bridging Ceremony would begin until 8:00pm.  I feel pretty comfortable around people anymore but after 15 minutes, my son and I decided to leave the group and walk around a pond that was close by.  To stay with the Girl Scout group felt like we were intruding. 

As we were walking around the nearby pond, we could hear the laughing floating across the pond along with the songs they were singing.  I’m glad my daughter was having a great time!

After our walk, my son and I played around a bit, but started to get bored.  That’s when I remembered my time saving book that I left in the car for such situations.  I was able to finish a entire chapter before the ceremony stated while my son played games on my blackberry.

Once the ceremony started, other males started to arrive for the celebration too.  I enjoyed the event, watching my daughter laugh, giggle, jump around and run around with her friends.  That said I have to admit I enjoyed finishing that chapter in my most recent book too.  It made the wait that much more enjoyable, plus I was out of sight of the pre-ceremony activities. 

All in all, the event was a good one, and my daughter seemed pretty happy!

Cheers,

MR

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Posted in Entertainment

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